A FORMER manager of a country club who pilfered thousands of pounds because she thought she deserved a pay rise must cough-up the cash.

Caroline OHagan stole as much as £28,000 from the Selsey Country Club when she was the general manager there.

The 56-year-old “betrayed” members by splashing out on items using the club’s company credit card and cheque book.

It included getting rugby tickets and paying her daughter’s orthodontist bills.

At Lewes Crown Court earlier this year she admitted fraud, and this week she faced a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The benefit she gained was £28,000, and she had £53,000 available as assets to repay.

So His Honour Judge Mark Van Der Zwart made an order for her to pay up the sum, or face six months behind bars.

Previously The Argus reported how OHagan was described as “useless” at finances and her theft came to light after her tenure between 2013 and 2016.

The club called an emergency meeting in 2016.

New finance manager Peter Lofthouse found “irregularities” which O’Hagan had tried to hide as normal expenses with “misleading entries” on the club’s accounts.

Jonathan Underhill, defending, said O’Hagan has debts and said she has “struggled with money management” and looking after children with care needs.

“At times she has found life incredibly difficult, especially when, as she accepts, she is useless at money management and has struggled bringing children up on her own,” he said.

He said was remorseful for her crimes.

At the time Judge Mark Van Der Swart said: “You have blamed the previous manager for suggesting your hard work and long hours should be better remunerated.

“That is not accepted and there is no way we can check as this person is now dead.

“Even if it were true, it is still obviously dishonest, yet you did it.

“You may have tried to justify this on the basis that you felt unappreciated or hard done by. But this is nobody’s fault apart from your own.

“There is no excuse for this rank dishonesty. It amounts to a significant betrayal of the officers and members of the club.”

At the time OHagan, of St Alban’s Road, Havant, Hampshire was spared an immediate prison spell because the case had taken years to come to court.

The judge said this weighed heavily on her, and told her: “You have lost your good name and suffered the humiliation of your own disgrace.”

OHagan was given an 18-month suspended sentence with 200 hours of unpaid work, and must now pay back £28,000 within three months.

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